Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Michelle at Living With Bob has come up with a fabulous idea to bring some fun and awareness for people with dysautonomia. In her post,The Dorothy Shoe Project, she discusses her idea to create a number of her iconic Dorothy shoes to send to people with dysautonomia all over the world…the US, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and more! The project is open to anyone out there with any kind of dysautonomia (ie POTS, NCS, PAF, or any other kind), and apparently the numbers are steadily growing.

The other thing that is so great about those shoes is that Dorothy was caught in a tornado in the Wizard of Oz, just like those of us with dysautonomia feel like we’re trapped in our own personal tornadoes. So it’s fun and fitting, don’t ya think?

I’m going to participate, and I have no ideas of something clever to do with them yet, but I’m sure I’ll think of something, right? So any of you out there with dysautonomia of any kind, feel free to email Michelle at Rusty.Hoe@thedorothyshoeproject.com to add your name to the list of POTSies ready to don some fancy new shoes!

Who doesn’t love beautiful sparkly red Dorothy shoes? Now if we could just get the heel clicking to work…

Why am I doing this?

I have been severely ill for 8 years. I was an active, healthy 26 year old emergency veterinarian loving life and my job. Everything crashed to a halt after a cat bite landed me in the hospital for a few days on IV antibiotics. Severe dizziness, fatigue, pain, and fainting were soon to follow. I had to take medical leave 3 months after I first became ill and was never able to work again.

It took more than 30 doctors, 2 years, and a trip to the Mayo clinic in Minnesota to finally get diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, or "POTS", a type of dysautonomia. I am still severely disabled, but fighting tooth and nail to get better every day. I want this blog to be a resource for others who have chronic "mystery" diagnoses or other chronic disorders that need help organizing their life again.

Bear with me on this blog because I am ill and will not be able to post as regularly as a "normal" person can!